ALBANY — The loudest cheers generated after one week of training camp came Friday afternoon after Hakeem Nicks ran a deep post, leaped over veteran safety C.C. Brown and rookie cornerback Stoney Woodson and hauled in a 35-yard pass from David Carr.

It was the first downfield grab by Nicks, the first-round draft pick out of North Carolina. It was just the sort of play that titillates the imagination and allows the Giants to believe that this rookie won’t be like so many other rookie receivers, that he’ll be able to break the mold and make a serious contribution right away.

“Nory [Sinorice Moss] had the out so I had to really clear, the safety bit on Nory and it was me one-on-one with the corner. I just have to make a play,” Nicks said. “In my eyes it’s just catching the ball, doing what I’m supposed to be doing.”

The first chance for Tom Coughlin to comment on the eye-opening play came yesterday, and the head coach barely responded, looking ahead and not behind.

“That was last night,” he said dismissively. “Today is this morning. He’s not even out there.”

Indeed, Nicks sat out both practice sessions with what he said was tightness in his right hamstring. It’s nothing serious and he figures to be back on the field very soon. Coughlin, though, gets jumpy when youngsters miss any practice time, especially those who need to contribute early in their rookie seasons.

Rookies and missed time is not a healthy combination. Mario Manningham last year strained a hamstring, missed valuable time in training camp and really never caught up. The scenario with Nicks is hardly comparable, unless one or two days become something more.

“I never missed any time. I ain’t never missed a college game other than my freshman year,” Nicks said. “I’m not a guy to miss time. I probably missed a couple of practices in college. I don’t feel like it’s serious enough to have me missing too many days. It just tightened up on me, before anything bad happened I just want to be cautious of it.”

Nicks knows what can happen if he doesn’t heed warning signs. He strained his right hamstring during the NFL Scouting Combine and sent up red flags to potential NFL employers by gaining nearly 15 pounds, ballooning up to 225.

The culprit, Nicks explained, was Little Debbie Snacks or, as he called them, “Debbie cakes.” A particular favorite was the Zebra Cake, which, for the uninformed, is “a delicious yellow cake with créme filling covered in white icing and trimmed with fudge stripes.”

Mostly, these were consumed around the midnight hour.

“I like a lot of snacks,” Nicks said.

And he ate a lot of them, before Coughlin instructed him to get his weight down for camp. Nicks before the draft already dropped down to his playing weight of 215, and at Coughlin’s urging lost even more. Nicks consulted with a nutritionist from North Carolina and said he reported last week at 202 pounds, the lightest he’s been since his senior year in high school.

“I feel quicker,” he said. “In college I played at 212, 215. If anything I will be faster and it will benefit me with faster injury recovery.”

He hopes that’s the case with his right hamstring, which began feeling fatigued to the point where he took a seat. To offset the increased running with two-a-day practices, Nicks spends time alternating between the cold tub and hot tub. He’s only 20 years old, but it’s the only body he has.

“Right now I want to find my role,” Nicks said. “When my name’s called I’m going to make plays.”